Thirty Days Before Our Wedding, I Found My Fiancé’s Secret Life—So I Turned Our Ceremony Into the Day He Lost Everything / Chapter 8 / 24

Chapter 8 - The Hostile BidThe next morning, the boardroom of Apex Biotech was a portrait of suffocating tension.

At exactly 9:00 A.M., the heavy glass doors swung open. Julian Croft walked in. He was in his late fifties, wearing a bespoke suit that cost more than most cars, radiating the terrifying, unearned confidence of a man used to buying his way out of consequences. Tristan trailed behind him like a pathetic, obedient dog, trying and failing to look triumphant.

Julian didn't wait for an invitation. He sat directly across from me at the mahogany table.

"Let’s skip the theatrics, Elara," Julian purred, a predatory smile stretching across his face. "The FDA has suspended your trials. Your stock is down forty percent in pre-market trading. I am officially initiating a hostile buyout of Apex Biotech. You step down today, sign over the remaining patents, and I won't press federal charges for IP theft."

"You are offering me a plea deal for my own company?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. I wore a stark-white, tailored blazer. I looked like untouchable power.

"I am offering you mercy," Julian corrected.

Tristan leaned forward, trying to reclaim a shred of his lost manhood. "It’s over, Elara. You couldn't run this place without me. Sign the papers, take whatever equity Julian is offering, and walk away before you end up in a cell."

I didn't flinch. I looked at Tristan with the profound disgust one reserves for a crushed insect.

"I don't need mercy, Julian," I said smoothly, turning my gaze back to the billionaire. I pulled the silver USB drive from my pocket and set it gently on the center of the table. "I need you to look very closely at this drive."

Julian’s smile faltered. "What is that?"

"That is a decentralized, encrypted key," I stated, my voice echoing with crystal-clear authority. "It contains the metadata of the illegal file transfer between Tristan’s proxy and Chimera’s private servers. But more importantly, it contains the audio recordings of your negotiations with Tristan. You didn't invent the algorithm, Julian. You knowingly purchased stolen corporate assets to manipulate the stock market."

The color drained completely from Julian’s face. Tristan stumbled backward, his chair scraping violently against the floor.

"That’s a bluff!" Tristan shouted, panic raising the pitch of his voice. "Tessa wouldn't..."

"Tessa realized you were setting her up to take the fall for federal espionage," I smiled, a dark, chilling expression. "So she handed me the knife."

"You have nothing," Julian hissed, standing up, the refined billionaire act shattering. "I have an army of lawyers. You can't touch me."

"I don't need lawyers, Julian," I whispered, tapping my phone. "Because ten minutes ago, my team forwarded that exact drive to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FBI Cyber Division, and the New York Times."